The closest game of EuroBasket’s day 1 was the game between Montenegro and Macedonia that ended up going into overtime. However, it is the series of events that take place when Montenegro had the ball with 6.9 seconds left in the 4th quarter with the game tied.
Macedonia did a very good job all quarter, playing strong defense without fouling, and that left them with one foul to give as Montenegro was taking the ball out from the side. The head coach from Macedonia did a great job of letting his players know the situation, and the team went out there and executed exactly how the coaching staff wanted them to. They put some pressure on the basketball, went for the quick still, and when Omar Cook went to attack, they fouled him. One problem, the player who fouled was Bo McCalebb. McCalebb is one of the best creaters in the European game, and he’s the player who gets Macedonia’s offense going. He also had four fouls:
If you are used to the NBA and not the international game, you might not know that a player fouls out with 5 fouls (like in college basketball). McCalebb is a veteran of this type of basketball, so it’s not like this rule caught up with him, but it is obvious that his coach and McCalebb himself had no idea how many fouls he had.
This year, the guys over at Blogs With Balls are putting together awards to give out at their conference taking place in New York on September 24th (you should definitely buy tickets if you haven’t yet) and I was lucky enough to be nominated for Best Young Sports Writer, 25 and Under.
If you have the time, I’d appreciate it if you took a break from your EuroBasket/FIBA Americas basketball watching (because that is what you should be doing), head on over and vote for me.
Over the past month, the 24 teams involved in EuroBasket have been preparing for August 31st and the start of the competition that decides what teams from Europe qualify for the Olympics next year (top 2 get automatic bids and 3rd-through 6th advance to a pre-Olympic qualifying tournament). Over here at NBAPlaybook, we have been preparing too, looking at some interesting sets from some of the contenders. I’ve been lucky enough to have caught at least one game of each team participating. Because of that, I thought it would be fun to make some predictions. If you click the header of the initial groups, you will be brought to a group preview done by The Painted Area (before we continue, here is their EuroBasket overview, go check it out because The Painted Area is one of the best sites around when it comes to international basketball - heck, go check out their FIBA Americas preview). If the individual name of the team is clickable, you will be brought to an offensive scout that I have done. So no other delays, here are my predictions for EuroBasket 2011:
First Round Group Play
Each team will play other group-mates once, with the top three teams advancing to the second round of group play
In my opinion, Group A is probably the toughest group out there with two title favorites in Spain and Lithuania and a very good Turkish team that are starting to get their act together a little bit. Poland is also a very good team, but I don’t think they are good enough to beat Turkey, and because I think the winner of the Turkey-Poland matchup on September 4th takes the 3rd spot, I have Turkey advancing. Great Britain avoids the dreaded 6th spot because Portugal will go winless in this group.
France and Germany, who are both playing very well entering the tournament, are definites here in group B, so again we are left with a tough decision for the third spot as Italy and Serbia are neck and neck here. So once again, we are left to a match-up between the contenders for the 3rd spot deciding who advances. What’s interesting about this is these two teams (Italy and Serbia) open up the tournament tomorrow morning and are the first game. I think Italy takes it, and that’s why I have them at the 3 spot.
One big factor in Pacer demise against a 3-man Heat team? Tyler Hansbrough. Three terrible first half shots & two huge second half travels 14 hours ago
James and Battier came over to remind Wade that Battier wide open from the corner is a better option than Anthony finish at the rim. 14 hours ago
